Using your brain, particularly during adolescence, may help brain cells survive and could impact how the brain functions in adulthood. According to a published study in Frontiers in Neuroscience, Rutgers behavioral and systems neuroscientist, Tracey Shors, found that the brain cells in young rats that were successful at learning survived, while those that weren’t able to master tasks died quickly. You can think of this as a “survival of the fittest” for brain cells. (more…)